Happy Easter Everyone!

Easter is a precious time spent with loved ones. Yet with all those sweet treats on offer it’s all to easy to overeat and indulge in all things yummy, and then feel guilty for eating too much chocolate and hot crossed buns! Does that sound like somebody you know?!

We know the body goes into stress if you go on a guilt trip, so we want to suggest to you some scrumptious alternative ways to have an indulgent Easter, without the guilt and adding the extra weight around the waist, which you have worked so hard to keep off!

Let’s be honest, chocolate is a huge part of Easter and a great way to enjoy guilt-free lower calorie treats by sticking to dairy-free or raw chocolate. You’d be amazed at how such a small change can make a huge difference!

For starters dairy-free chocolate is 40-50% less fat and calories, depending on the brand due to not using the fatty cream and butter in it!

Raw chocolate, on the other hand, is the purest form of chocolate.It has more than 300 nutritional compounds that benefit your well-being and health and is one of the highest forms of antioxidant foods you can get!

It is said to have four times the amount of antioxidant content compared with regular processed dark chocolate, 20 times more than blueberries, and 119 times more than bananas! If the antioxidant powers weren’t enough, it can also improve your memory, increase your feelings of bliss, balance hormonal mood swings, reduce heart disease, shed fat, boost immunity, and create loads of energy! Impressed? Now that’s what I call chocolate worth eating and feeling good about!

However, if you or the kids don’t like dark chocolate (which is anything above 76% cocao) then I suggest you get the dairy-free eggs which have fewer calories! You can get these from various places such as Sainsbury’sFreefrom White Chocolate Egg: £2.50, Holland & Barrett Dairy Free egg: £3.99, Moo Organic Dairy Free Easter Egg: £4.99, Hotel Chocolat, Dark Egg Sandwich: £10or maybe your local wholefoods store.

All of these are a great, affordable alternatives! If you want to treat yourself to a little bit of luxury then you can go for Booja Booja, Large Hazelnut Crunch Chocolate Truffles Easter Egg: £24.99 from Ocado or Wholefoods.This comes in a hand-painted wooden box with the most luxurious, vegan cocoa coated truffles which melt on your tongue like a dream!

If you want to get great quality, organic and affordable raw chocolate we recommend EnJoy Raw Chocolate, they have a range of flavours and here at Skip Archimedes HQ, we like to support local, start-up businesses who are making a positive impact!

For the peanut heads out there, these are to die for! If you are feeling like a domestic goddess this Bank Holiday why not try making these vegan, sugar and gluten free Peanut Butter Easter Eggs?

Find the recipe from the author Sugar-Free Mom here and her suggestions down below.

o If you don’t have liquid stevia you can use powdered but it might not be as smooth. I would recommend 1 packet of powdered or 1/4 teaspoon of pure powdered stevia.o If you can’t find sugar free chocolate chips that are sweetened with stevia, you can use unsweetened baking chocolate and add 1-2 teaspoons pure powdered stevia, but taste and adjust as needed.o I’ve found sugar free chocolate chips at Whole Foods by the brand Lily’s, but you could also use unsweetened carob chips which would be just as delicious and in the bulk section of whole foods.o I’ve not tried this with powdered peanut butter as I do not think the texture will work as nicely and be quite dry if using that although the calories and fat would be greatly reduced.o If you don’t use the microwave you can simply melt the coconut oil and peanut butter over low heat in a saucepan on the stove and stir until smooth.o After an hour on the counter, they did not melt, but I think it is better to keep them refrigerated.o Make this peanut free by subbing the peanut butter for a nut butter of your choice.

If you are feeling super inspired to try some raw chocolate, this gorgeous raw chocolate recipe will give you your fix!

RAW ROSE PETAL CHOCOLATE

Ingredients:

100g raw cacao butter

25g raw cacao powder

4 tbsp coconut blossom nectar (or agave syrup, honey or rice syrup)

¼ tsp rose water (optional)

25g almonds (optional nut)

12g pistachios (optional nut)

Pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Dried rose petals to garnish

Instructions:

1. Melt the raw cacao butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, leave to cool for about 5 minutes before mixing through the raw cacao powder with a spoon. Once fully incorporated, add the coconut blossom nectar and rose water and whisk into the chocolate so that the syrup doesn’t just sink to the bottom of the bowl.2. Line either a tin or plate with sides (I used a 7inch long by 3inch wide loaf tin) with baking paper and pour the chocolate in.3. Roughly cut up the almonds and pistachios and randomly drop them into the chocolate.4. Put the tin/plate into the freezer for 10 minutes then pull out and sprinkle a few more of the nuts onto the top with the rose petals and a sprinkling of pink salt. Then put back into the freezer for 1 hour or until set.5. Keep in the freezer or fridge until its ready to be eaten. Enjoy!

If you don’t want to get your own kitchen messy and buy all the ingredients, then you should head down a vegan chocolate making workshop led by Ela Harpak, a fantastic and fun day out to make the most out of your time off whilst learning more about the benefits of vegan chocolate. There you can master your chocolate egg making skills, make some healthy pralines and take a goodie bag home to impress your friends & family! We know where we will be this weekend.